by Terrence Mayrose
Greivis Vasquez : A proven winner or desperate to be the center of attention ?
All I could think of while watching and suffering through the home stretch of that Duke-Maryland game was what exactly to make of Greivis Vaquez’s actions. My gut instinct was to characterize it as another “look at me” type of performance that is not much different from a little child screaming in the grocery store becuase of what it’s aimed for : attention. You saw the act.. the chest pounding, the pointing to the stands, raising his arms, and putting his hand to his ear saying “I can’t hear you”. I was utterly disgusted that he couldn’t just play, and win the game. He made it a show. My attention wasn’t focused on saluting his performance for beating my Dukies, it was not focused on how dumb he looked. Let’s be serious. He’s easily one of the top 10, possibly top 5 players in the country. Does he really need to hear the fans chanting to be the best player on the court ? Doubtful.
By Terrence Mayrose
Rivalry Week Signals Shift of Focus For Sports Fans
For all you football fanatics out there, make sure you savor the Super Bowl, because as of this
morning, it’s time to focus on hoops. Despite the endless analysis, highlights and “breakdown” sessions ESPN may have shoved down your throat last week, you should be beside yourself about the slew of college basketball games coming up over the next seven days. Rivalry Week, as it’s become known, is easily the best single week of the regular season. It’s like the best appetizer on the menu. You make sure you order it. Things start on tonight on ESPN’s Big Monday when Kansas(1) travels to Texas (10) and Villanova (2) travels to West Virginia(6).
by Terrence Mayrose
Kentucky Basketball Falls From Its perch. Who’s Next? 
The 75-76’ Indiana Hoosiers can breathe a little easier now that Kentucky, the last remaining unbeaten team this season, has suffered it’s first loss to South Carolina. Led by an array of tough, clutch, and “how the hell did he hit that” shots from Devan Downey, the Gamecocks made Kentucky’s stay atop the polls very short.
The recent upset of John (“ never actually been to a Final Four”) Calipari, John (“one and done”) Wall and Kentucky as well as the memories of Mario Chalmers trey to beat an undefeated Memphis in 08’ show that even the best of the best can take a loss. Which makes hoopsters wonder: Will there ever be another undefeated champion ?
Devan Downey dropped thirty in the 68-62 upset, and put himself on the map as one of the nation’s best scorers; although Gamecock
faithful will be quick to tell you that he’s no fluke. The Chester, S.C. native spurned his home state by electing to attend Cincinnati as a freshman. After posting 11.9 ppg in his freshman year, Downey decided to come home, and it’s been all good since. After sitting out the ’06-’07 season, Downey’s scored 18.4 ppg (07-08),and 19.8(08-09). He’s even better this season as Downey’s 22.4 ppg leads the SEC. With a scorer like this, and a decent record, 12-8 (3-3), The Gamecocks have a shot to be a dark horse in the SEC tournament. After all, they have shown they can play with (and beat) the best.
Now that no unbeatens remain, who is the frontrunner for a national title? With such a crop of great teams atop the polls there may not be just one, but Kansas stands out. Bill Self’s crew is currently 19-1 with their only setback to #14 Tennessee. A January 30th trip to #13 Kansas State, and Feb 8th trip to #6 Texas could yield two wins that would give the Jayhawks the most impressive resume in the country. It should also be noted that Kansas currently ranks 2nd in both Offensive and Defensive Efficiency and you know how much we like that.
Speaking of frontrunners… CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish points out that the end of January is a great time to find out who will make the Final Four. Parrish stated that in the past five seasons, at least three of the Final Four teams (all four in ’08) have been in the Top Ten during the last week of January. Remember to refer back to this in March when filling out your sheets. Kentucky, Kansas, Villanova, Syracuse, Michigan State, Texas, Georgetown, Duke, West Virginia and Purdue are your current candidates.
Locks Struggle But Still Manage Winning Record
It wasn’t the best performance we’ve seen from the Locks but it still produced a winning weekend. Jill 
turned in her first losing record, going 1-2, while nephew Pad and husband Gil logged 2-1 Saturdays. Gil’s was especially sweet, as he had been coaxed out of semi-retirement by his nephew. “I was happy to be back but I’m still not at the top of my game. I picked Cincy-UConn under 52 and both teams almost went over by themselves.”
Well, there’s just no pleasing some people but, with a stellar record, the Locks have pleased more than not. Let’s take a look at this week’s selections.
Locks of the Week
Jill (14-7)
Idaho-Boise State over 63-
I’m staying with Boise but only on the over as they let me down last week. I expect the Broncos to try and run it up on their in-state rival but Idaho can score, too, as eveidenced by the 45 points they scored vs. Nevada that sent Gil over the wall.
Utah + 17.5 over TCU-
TCU is ranked fourth with an outside shot at the BCS Championship. They’ve been killing teams lately but Utah’s lost just once in two years and they’ve already beaten Oklahoma. I think the Utes lose here but not by double digits.
Oregon -17 over Arizona State-
Took a look at Arizona State’s record and, boy, do they give up a lot of points. Oregon’s going to be real pissed after getting their Ducks knocked off last week and should win going away.
Pad (4-2)
Clemson – 6 over North Carolina State-
Clemson is really starting to hit its stride and has its sights set on an Atlantic Division title. NC State is really weak but, somehow, managed to beat Pitt. That’ll remain their one upset as the Tigers keep rolling.
San Jose State-Utah State over 55.5-
Another case of “Arifemetic”. Bothe teams can score, neither can defend. Good bet that one of them will come close by themselves.
Western Michigan -10 over Eastern Michigan-
Eastern Michigan is 0-9 and will get no sympathy from its biggest rival.
Gil (9-11-1)
Cincinnati-9.5 over West Virginia (Friday)-
Playing a hunch here that Cincinnati will take advantage of its second straight week on National TV. Would feel a lot better about it if they hadn’t given up 45 to UConn but I think that’ll be a wakeup call.
Missouri +2 1/2 over Kansas State-
The Big 12 North is a weak division but Missouri is one of its better teams. They have more talent than K State so I’m picking the Tigers.
BYU -27 over New Mexico-
Went with Utah over New Mex last week and found out what a generous team they are. BYU QB Max Hall should have a field day.
